Homeowners Information

Expectations

Here is some basic information about what stained concrete floors are and even more important, what they are not. We feel that it is very important that we know what your expectation is and you know what we can actually accomplish with concrete stain. When you sit down with us, please have a good description of what you want. Do you want a floor that shines, or do you want a matte finish. Do you want BOLD colors or muted colors. Talk to us about the general theme of your home, cottage, traditional, modern, etc. What is important to you? Is your home a showcase or are you a feet on the coffee table family? These are all things that will help us make sure that you get the floor that will make you happy for many years to come.

Why Stained Concrete Floors?

Concrete Stain goes with everything.

It is easy to choose a color for your floors, you can pick complimentary colors from your walls, furniture or artwork. You could match colors from your fireplace or backsplashes. The thing is I don’t believe you can pick a bad color of concrete stain. The colors are what most people call earth colors and they are basic warm colors that relate to anything in your home or business. We have never heard anyone say they didn’t like the color after a project was finished.

It’s really hygienic and sanitary.

No place for the dust mites to hide! Just “swiffer” your concrete floor and you are done. No need to hire carpet cleaners.

It’s a Green Choice.

You are using the material at hand. You are not bringing in new, extra material. You will not remove old material at a later date if you change to something else.

4. It is never “dated”.

Floor from the Yosemite Valley Awhanee Hotel built in 1927. This is the original concrete floor!

As you can see from the Yosemite Valley Awhanee Hotel, concrete stain done in 1927 is just as vibrant and relevant today as it was in 1927. However, the most luxurious and expensive tile from 1980, just looks dated today. Good architecture, good design and stained concrete will be timeless.

The Truth? What won’t I like about concrete floors?

Your floors may not all be the same.

Surprise. We just did the last floor in our home and we were so surprised when we pulled the carpet. The rest of the house had smooth finished concrete. Not that bedroom. It was very rough. Different textures look different when stained. Be ready for surprises.

It will need some maintenance.

On top of the concrete sealer we have put an acrylic top coat commonly called wax. This isn’t your grandmothers wax that had to be removed and reapplied. It is a sacrificial coating to protect the sealer and your decorative floor. It will need to be reapplied periodically depending on your use. If you have kids or dogs, you might want to get a home floor machine for easy cleaning, a bit heavier duty than your swiffer.

Concrete Stain is NOT a perfect science.

We have never seen a perfect concrete floor. We have never done a perfect concrete floor. Colors don’t always come out like we thought, they may not mottle like we want them to or they may mottle more than we want. It is an art form, it is unpredictable and to us that is what makes it so awesome.

Time will tell.

Some of the things that might happen to your concrete floor are: white spots, dark spots, browns spots, or you may not get any spots (sorry, we can’t make them happen!). If you want perfect, buy tile, every tile is manufactured to look like the next one (it won’t hurt our feelings).